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But they liked Oculus: When the virtual reality firm asked for
$250,000 on Kickstarter to build Oculus Rift, a virtual reality
headset, gamers responded with love and money, throwing nearly
$2.5 million at the project.

Oculus was cool; it was scrappy, raised on crowdfunding, the very
antithesis of a tech behemoth like Facebook.

So when news broke yesterday that Facebook is acquiring Oculus --
paying a whopping $2 billion in cash and stock -- there was an
instant and intense backlash from the gaming community,
particularly from those who had backed Oculus's Kickstarter
project.

The virtual reality firm announced the news on its website, providing users with a space
to vent. The Oculus Rift Kickstarter page has also
been flooded with diatribes against the sale. Negative
comments ranged from the simple: "DO NOT WANT," to the
chiding: "It is immensely disappointing that you have chosen
this course, as it clashes directly against what you have been
espousing over the past year," to the, well, dramatic: "YOU
WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE CHOSEN ONES." Many simply expressed
hope that this was all an elaborate early April Fool's prank.

By accepting Facebook's offer, many commentators felt Oculus had
traded its soul for cash. ("I guess you might as well go
full-evil when selling out," was a typical observation).

The general argument, shared by Minecraft creator Marcus Persson,
who stated his issues with the acquisition in a
blog post, is that Facebook's intentions are all wrong; a
host of commentators stated their concerns that the social
network will pollute what would have been a pure gaming product
with tacky games and ads.

But not everyone was upset. A few commentators – although their
voices were few and far between – advised everyone to get over it
already. "Everyone needs to settle down about this," wrote one.
"No one is saying they will stop developing Oculus for gaming.
They needed money and now they have it."

Another put it more bluntly: "A company we like has some money to
actually finish their project now. Whatever will we do? You know,
besides buy it anyway while we continue to complain about it,
just like we'll all whine about Facebook as if we're not using
it."

For his part, 21-year-old Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey wrote
a post on Reddit outlining his reasons for making the sale,
essentially telling gamers that the acquisition will enable
the company to reach more people at a faster pace.

"I’m proud to be a member of this community — thank you all for
carrying virtual reality and gaming forward and trusting in us to
deliver," he concluded. "We won’t let you down."